Washington, D.C. – TechNet, the national, bipartisan network of innovation economy CEOs and senior executives, today joined the President in warning the public of the growing threat of cyber attacks from Russia. The following can be attributed to Carl Holshouser, Senior Vice President of TechNet:
“The President is right to sound the alarm about the grave danger Russian cyber attacks pose to our economy, our infrastructure, and our families, which is why America’s tech leaders are working hard to protect America against these threats. With today’s world growing more connected by the second, defending our critical infrastructure and protecting our data will require close collaboration between America’s technology sector and the government.
“America’s tech leaders are taking unprecedented steps to support Ukraine, isolate Russia, and ensure our national security, both overseas and here at home.”
Background:
- Cybercrime cost the world economy nearly $1 trillion in 2020 alone.
- The number of successful breaches — which include unauthorized access to data, applications, services, networks, or devices — jumped 31 percent over the previous year, to 270 per company, on average.
- Currently, there are more than 594,000 cybersecurity job openings across the country.
- We must work to close this talent gap through education, workforce, and immigration policies and initiatives that ensure the U.S. develops, recruits, and retains the world’s best cyber workforce.
- We must incentivize investment in new technologies that prevent these growing number of attacks from happening and drive down risks and costs for consumers and businesses alike, regardless of size.